


I'm Here Now

by legendarytozier



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Minor Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Minor Bill Denbrough/Beverly Marsh, Physical Abuse, this is pretty sappy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-07 16:20:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14084820
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/legendarytozier/pseuds/legendarytozier
Summary: Bill Denbrough hates the Soulmate Program, and he hates the person on the other end of his connection. Or so he thought.Or, the one where Richie and Bill are soulmates, and their meeting isn't exactly how they would have planned it.





	I'm Here Now

Bill Denbrough hated the Soulmate Program.

            The whole notion of spending your entire life with one person made him roll his eyes so far into the back of his head, he thought they might get stuck there.

            And yet he had no choice but to participate. Well before Bill was born, the city decided that having to spend your whole life looking for the one who was perfect for you was a waste of time, and they developed a program to match you with the ‘one’ for you. When you both turned 21, a letter was delivered to both parties, giving them the details of their significant other. This apparently “took the stress out of dating at a young age and allowed kids to simply exist for themselves in their youth”. Made sense, sort of? Well, the downside of such a program was that it was _too_ good at linking soulmates. A glitch caused soulmates to feel the pain the other was feeling, until they met in person. The Soulmate Program had tried everything to try to erase the issue, but it didn’t seem to be going anywhere. After deciding the issue was worth it, the program went through, and, flash forward 136 years, and here Bill was, twenty years old, waiting on someone who was supposedly perfect for him.

            Bill knew this person wasn’t going to be what Bill wanted. They were constantly fighting, based on what Bill could tell, considering his nose and fists were sore most weekends. His knees and ribcage would flare up at the most inconvenient times, and Bill was silently cursing this mystery person. He was always so careful not to hurt himself, for fearing of injuring someone else, even if that person hurt Bill all the time. He just couldn’t bring himself to put someone else in pain unnecessarily. Whoever was on the other end of this connection was lucky that Bill was as tough as he was.  

            But today was exceptionally bad. He was throbbing everywhere, low and dull, and it was hard to identify what the pain even meant. Normally it was sharp and in an exact spot, but today it hummed lowly all over Bill’s body. A small twinge of concern shot through Bill, but he shook it off, not willing to care for someone he didn’t even know.

            Stumbling into his apartment, he was greeted by the smell of chocolate chip cookies. The smell itself alleviated some of the ache in Bill’s shoulders, and he inhaled deeply.

            “Oh my god Beverly, you have really outdone yourself. Whatever that is… I love it. Like, love love. I want to marry it,” Bill called across the hall as he stripped off his outerwear. Once in the kitchen, he admired the mess fondly, Bev’s new love for cooking treating them both so good.

            “You say that about everything I make,” Bev said, without looking up from her work space.

            Beverly Marsh was Bill’s roommate, a beautiful red head who made every day exceptionally exciting. She was energy, the sun, a radiant beam in Bill’s otherwise blue life. After they’d become friends, they’d cut the palms of their hands to see if they were soulmates. They were not, and Bill felt a surge of disappointment. Beverly told him that despite them not being meant for each other, she loved Bill and she wasn’t going anywhere. They had fucked a few times before, more out of drunken stupidity than real desire, but it hadn’t diminished their friendship in any way. Bev had turned 21 two months ago and received her letter in the mail. Her other half was a guy named Ben Hanscom. They had gotten in contact, and it turned out Ben was in the middle of a five-year stint in the army across the sea. They postponed their great meeting until he returned, and settled for handwritten love letters instead. Bev was over-the-moon happy and in love, but Bill found it all a little nauseating.

            “But today I especially need those cookies. My soulmate has really fucked something up this time. I am ACHING from head to toe,” Bill whined, flopping into one of the chairs at their island. Bev clucked her tongue and went into the freezer for an icepack. She placed it gently in a towel around Bill’s shoulder, and he flinched at the contact.

            “You’re so close to being free from this. 6 more months, and you’ll be 21 too, and then you can meet this person and be rid of this feeling.” Beverly said in a supportive tone.

            “Hopefully ride of this person completely,” Bill grumbly. Bev sighed.

            “What if you really like them, Bill? They could be amazing. Look at how Ben and I turned out. I hated this program as much as you, and look how well things are going! Ben and I are mere months away from being with one another for real!” Bev said, spinning around the counter with glee. She got giddy talking about Ben, and despite how much Bill found the Program stupid, he was happy his best friend was happy.

            “Anyone who is willing to hurt their soulmate this much is an asshole, and I do not want to spend the rest of my life with them,” Bill said grumpily. He couldn’t believe how rough he felt, and did it seem like it was getting worse? Oh, it was definitely getting worse.

            “You don’t know their story, babe. It could be any number of things,” Bev tried to encourage him, but Bill wasn’t having it. He waved his hand at her and snagged a still hot cookie off the tray.

            “Thank you, I love you, but no. I’m going to try and sleep this off,” Bill said, and Bev kissed his cheek and mumbled a quick goodnight. Bill rolled his neck and shoulders as he walked off to his room, stopping by the bathroom to pop an aspirin. Once he was tucked into his bed, he found the exhaustion of carrying the pain all day overcome him, and he fell asleep even easier than he could have hoped.

\-------------------------------

            Bill woke with a start, screaming loudly as he clutched the sides of his head. It felt as though someone had driven a stake right through his skull, and was swirling the insides around. He was yelling and yelling, the pain making him nearly blind. Bev rushed into his room and flicked on the light, looking around Bill’s room for any signs of danger, before realizing it was coming from _within_ Bill.

            “Bill, tell me what I can do to help!” Bev shouted at him as he shook with pain, and Bill could hear the tears forming in her voice.

            “Take me to the fucking hospital! Please!” Bill shouted, clenching his eye shut at the sudden onset of dizziness.

            “Bill, they can’t treat your pain there. It was to be treated on the soulmates end,” Bev said shakily.

            “Yeah, and that fucker is going to die if they don’t get treatment, I know it! This isn’t normal Beverly, they’re dying,” Bill said softly, tears racing down his cheeks. “Either they end up in the hospital and deal with this, or they die wherever they are. We have to go, NOW.”

            Beverly grappled with her jacket and purse, slipping Bill’s shoes on for him and helping him out of the room, down the stairs of their building. Once they were in the car, Bill laid down in the back and sobbed, begging for someone to make the pain stop. It was so bad, and as hard as he tried to suppress it, he could only imagine what had happened to his soulmate. What if they did die? What if Bill spent his whole life alone, all because his soulmate died 2 months before their birthday? He shook even harder, wracked with more sobs. Bev reached back and placed a comforting hand on Bill’s shoulder.

            “I am going as fast as I can baby, you can do this, just hold on, we’re going to figure this out,” Bev said, and Bill could hear she was crying too. He hated putting her through this, but he didn’t have any other options.

            As soon as they pulled up to the hospital, Bev helped Bill out, and he stumbled almost blindly to the reception desk. The lady looked shocked, and flagged down a paramedic standing off to the side, but Bill waved them off.

            “I’m fine, this isn’t my injury.  I’m looking for someone who came in with a head injury, possibly scarred all over their body, especially their knuckles,” Bill rattled off, clutching his head and squinting at the bright lights. The lady was taken aback by his list of requirements, but grabbed a clipboard off the wall.

            “I have one Richard Tozier in emergency surgery right now, he just got in about 15 minutes ago, but that’s the only head injury case I have right now…” the nurse said, double checking her wall of patients. Bill turned to look at Bev, only to see her looking back at him with wild eyes. A boy? Bill had never found men attractive. But to be fair, he had never found anyone besides Bev to be attractive, and even then, it was more of a platonic appreciation for her beauty.

            “Yeah, sure, okay, is there any way I can see him?” Bill asked quickly, the throbbing in his head reaching sweltering levels, and he stumbled a bit. He leaned into the counter and Bev for support, and the nurse shot up out of concern.

            “I can take you to the viewing room. It’ll be graphic, I have to warn you-” the nurse started, but Bill waved her off, gesturing for her to lead the way. The three of them walked quickly down the hall and through multiple sets of double doors. Eventually they reached a big grey door labeled “SURGERY”. Bill let out a low sigh. This was it. He was going to see his soulmate. Either that, or they were still out there somewhere dying. Bill really hopped it was the former.

            “Ready?” The nurse asked, and pushed open the doors. Bill stepped into the dark room, illuminated only by the surgical lights surrounding an operating table down below. As soon as his eyes fell upon the body slumped across the table, the pain in head lifted, and he stumbled to his knees by the sheer bliss of it.

            “Bill? Tell me what’s wrong,” Bev said, coming to her knees beside him. He shook his head.

            “The pain… it’s gone. That’s him… that’s him,” Bill said softly, peering over the edge of the window to admire the man below.

            Considering the fact that doctors were crowding around his open skull, the man looked incredible. He had dark curls that Bill imagined her very soft when they weren’t caked in his own blood, and pale skin that seemed to leech moonlight. It felt like a perfect contrast to Bill’s tan skin that Bev always said, “exuded sunlight”. He was tall, even taller than Bill, and skinny. A floral shirt had been ripped of him and flung to the side, to cover his body with monitors and stickies. Bill saw a broken pair of chunky glasses on a side table, and felt the breath catch in his throat. What the fuck was this feeling? He was going to be sick. He hadn’t felt like this since… since… since ever.

            “What happened to him?” Bill asked warily, worried he wouldn’t like the answer. He was right.

            “He was pushed down a flight of stairs. Neighbour brought him in. Apparently, the dad has been abusing him for some time, and things came to a peak tonight. Brain swelled pretty bad, and the doctors are trying to alleviate some of that,” the nurse said calmly, reading off the chart. Bill barely had enough time to grab the garbage can in front of him before he threw up, Bev running careful circles around his back. Once he was done, he turned back to the nurse.

            “And the dad?”

            “A dispatch was sent to the apartment. I don’t really have any information other than that, but if they catch him, he’ll be going to jail for a very long time,” the nurse said, trying to give Bill the most sympathetic look she could. Bill turned back to the window, and watched silently as Bev leaned her head against his back.

            “Bev?”

            “Yeah, Bill?”

            “Is this what it’s supposed to feel like?”

            “What is supposed to feel like?”

            “ _Love._ ” Bev, shocked, lifted her body to look at Bill’s profile, but he couldn’t peel his eyes off the man in front of him. He was so struck with emotion he couldn’t even comprehend his own words before they left his mouth. All this time, he had been so angry at his soulmate for picking fights, when he had really been suffering at the hands of an abusive father. Bill felt sick all over again, and let his eyes flutter shut as tears leaked out. “I thought I would be so angry but I just feel so… drained. All that suffering, the pain I felt… I can’t even imagine what it would have been like to live through it,” Bill finally turned to Bev. “He can’t die Bev! I take back ever bad thing I have ever said about him, please, he can’t die! I’m not ready to lose him before I even meet him!” Bill yelled, crying even louder now, and Bev caught his body into a tight embrace. She cried into his shoulder too, and they both just sobbed silently for what felt like hours. Finally, a different nurse stepped back into the room, and cleared her throat.

            “Sir, Richard will be out of surgery soon. It went well, and he is looking to make a full recovery. It was really quite miraculous. He’s asleep now, and he will be for a while, but you can wait in his room for him,” she said, and Bill stood up quickly, pulling Bev with him. They walked silently behind the nurse, into an aftercare room. Bill was struck again with emotion upon seeing Richard lying in the bed, eyes closed, face and arms bruised. Up close, he was even more beautiful, and Bill wanted to brush the curls away from his face. The nurse handed Bill a cup of coffee, and he thanked her. “I’m his on call nurse, so if you need anything, please don’t hesitate to buzz me,” she smiled kindly, and Bill tried weakly to do the same. As soon as she left, Bill plopped into the chair right beside the bed.

            “Alright Richard, I guess we get to play the waiting game now. I’ll be here, whenever you’re ready,” Bill said softly, gently wrapping his fingers around the man’s, and solemnly vowing never to let him be alone again.

\-------------------------------

            It had been 8 days since Richard’s accident, and Bill hadn’t left his side. Beverly had brought him his art supplies and notebooks, and made sure to stop by once a day with food and to keep Bill from going crazy all alone. Bill was working on a charcoal drawing of the rainy view from Richard’s window when he heard stirring from the bed behind him. He turned around to see Richard’s eyes fluttering open. Bill dropped the paper and chalk, and ran over to kneel beside the bed. He grasped at Richard’s hand, making the other man’s eyes open a little faster. Richard smiled, a cocky smirk that on anyone else would have made Bill’s blood boil. But on Richard? Tantalizing.

            “Well if it isn’t the soulmate I have waited for all my life,” Richard said, and his voice almost sent Bill stumbling back. It was deeper than he expected, husky from what could only be cigarettes. His eyes were piercing, and Bill felt as though they might actually be looking right through into his soul.

            “How did… how did you kn-“ Bill started, but Richard shook his head, flipping Bill’s hand over to reveal the long scar on his palm.

            “The only time you ever hurt me. Other than the endless papercuts, which makes a lot of sense now,” Richie said, peering over Bill’s shoulder at the stacks of paper. “I felt it as soon as you grabbed my hand. And I’m not really a firm believer in love at first sight, but, oh man…” Richard trailed off, looking Bill up and down. Bill tried to suppress his blush, but he knew he was failing. Instead he shook his head, and mumbled a quick, “my name is Bill Denbrough”.

            “Bill, eh? Richie Tozier, radio superstar. Well, wannabe radio superstar. We’re working on it.” Bill laughed at that. Richie was stunned by how it filled the room with electricity when he did that, and made a mental note to make Bill laugh at every change he got. He suddenly got very serious. “Bill… I am so sorry for all the pain I have put you through. Every time it happened I wished to god we’d just bump into one another on the street so you could be free of this pain. I… I’d do anything to take it back,” Richie said, staring at his lap. Bill quickly shook his head.

            “No, please, I am sorry. I wish I had been able to do something about it. All that pain… I wanted to find you and end it so badly. If I had known it was literally killing you, I would have done something, anything… just to find you and help you. I am so sorry this happened to you Richie,” Bill said softly, tears leaking from his eyes. Richie let go of Bill’s hand to wipe the tears away.

            “No crying over it. It’s done now. I’m free, and I have you. I’d say I came out a winner,” Richie smirked, and Bill smiled. “We’re together now, and I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here with you every step of the way from here out, I promise,” Richie said seriously.

            “Good. There is nowhere I’d rather you be.”

**Author's Note:**

> Yay, another one edited and up! This was based off a Soulmate AU prompt that was posted by omegawolfmyth on tumbr. I love ya'll, come chat with me on tumblr (legendarytozier)! xx


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